Jeffery Sinclair headed to the presidential office; he was still a bit miffed at being paint-bombed and majorly worried about the huge structure that had appeared in front of him. The guards at the door nodded to him and let him pass without incident.
"Greeting Lieutenant Sinclair," President Levy said and gestured to a television screen. "Impressive, isn't it?"
Sinclair looked to where she was pointing and saw a split screen showing the massive building. One side was ground level and the other side showed from an orbiting satellite.
"What the Hell is that thing?" Sinclair muttered.
"Everything points to a fully functional space elevator. This is despite the fact that all our research shows that such a structure defies all the known laws of physics," President Levy replied. "As to who built the thing. We have the name of the race that probably built that thing: The Chiram. I have never heard of this race, but I have suspicions. Now, as to the reason you are here. There was a conversation between that strange fighter and the space elevator. It was not encrypted, thus we were able to record it."
President Levy pushed a button on her desk and the radio conversation between the Colonel and Nataruma was played. Levy stopped the recording after the Orguss 02 vanished into the space elevator.
"This Colonel person was able to hack into satellites without a problem. That fighter outperformed our Starfuries and of course the space elevator itself. This technology is far in advance of what we are able to do. I have the feeling that they don't have an agenda."
"Could the conversation had been staged?" Sinclair asked.
"To what purpose?" Levy countered. "If they do have this Space/Time Oscillation Bomb, they could use it to hold the Earth hostage. There have been no demands. I have the feeling that you are part of the reason why they are here. Do you recall the bit about the differentiated idoblast?"
"Yes," Sinclair ground out. "That was right before that Nataruma girl paint bombed my Starfury."
"Something in your past or future caused that thing and the strange robots to stop on their journey to where they were supposed to go. Even now, we are dismantling a lot of the robots. There is a huge red one that looks like it is mind controlled in some way."
"Madame President?" a call came over the intercom. "I think you should hear this. It is a message from the space elevator."
"Put it through."
"Greetings, whoever the leader of this Earth is. I am the Colonel. I come from a country called Mu. Judging by your technology, you are aware of the Space Elevator."
"This Earth?" President Levy muttered and continued on a louder voice. "I am President Levy. You and Nataruma have caused quite an upset around Earth Dome. What are your demands?"
"If I demanded anything, it would be to destroy Lebo. The giant red robot that your people have dubbed Red Goliath. It drives its pilot insane. Beyond that, I have no real demands but I have some requests. I would like to meet with you, a John Sheridan and a Jeffery Sinclair along with some others in talks about the time loop that our arrival disrupted and the future wars that you will have with the Minbari, Vorlons and Shadows."
"Wars we will have?" Levy asked.
"Yes. The Vorlons set up a time loop and your race is forced to fight wars that really should not happen. Next year, you are supposed to get into a war with the Dilgar as they star expanding, sue to their sun about to explode," the Colonel replied. "I'm sending you the list of people that I wish to talk with you along with a list of people that I will kill if they set foot inside the Space Elevator. When you hear everything, you will also want to kill these people."
"Send your two lists," Levy said. "And, we'll see."
"Levy picked up the list with the names that the Colonel did not want to see and would kill and chuckled.
"Senator Morgan Clarke and Psi Cop Alfred Bester are the top of this list. I can't say that I blame him on those two and these others are ones that I really have no objection at letting stay here."
Levy picked up the other list and saw the names on it and shook here head.
"If Santiago is supposed to become president after I step down, I can see why he would want to meet with him, but these others... Doctor Franklin Richard, Susan Ivanova, Michael Gerabaldi? These others on the list are people assigned to the Agemenmon. At any rate, the demands are reasonable so far. No, not demands. These are requests."
Levy paged General Hardcastle from Earth Dome's military and handed him the list. "Get these people together. I'm going to accompany them to the space elevator and talk with the Colonel."
"Madame President, that is a very big risk for you to take and...," Harcastle began.
President Levy cut him off. "I note your objections. However, no matter where on Earth I am, I am in danger of whatever that space elevator has for ordinance."
Hardcastle deflated. "A couple hundred nuclear missiles, thousands of mass drivers and lasers also pepper the hull of that structure. It has more firepower than all of our ships combined."
"Add to the fact there is also some strange weapon called a Space/Time Oscillation Bomb, the safest place for me to be is in the space elevator," Levy said with a smile.
Hardcastle sighed heavily and nodded.
"General, I have the feeling that the Colonel is not here to threaten us and maybe he is here to help us," Levy said. "Judging by what we picked up in the radio chatter between Nataruma and him, I believe that this mess wasn't supposed to happen at all. Gather the people general, and take this other list as well and keep them far away from the space elevator. The Colonel said he would kill them if they showed up. He's not being threatening, he just does not want to deal with certain people."
Hardcastle looked over the second list and gave a disgusted snort. "He threatened to kill the people on this list? I would love to kill a lot of them myself. As to the list of the ones he wants to meet, it is so scattered and strange. I have no idea why he wants to talk to them."
"Sinclair is for obvious reasons," Levy said. "How long will it take?"
"A few hours."
"Get to it."
A few hours later, President Levy was sitting in the cabin of Earth Force-1 as it made its way to the space elevator. Looking at the group travelling with her, she had the strange feeling that they would make a great crew for a space station. She shook her head, as she listened to the various theories being offered up. Soon, the ship landed in front of the space elevator and the passengers disembarked. All of them looked up the length of the giant building.
Susan Ivanova shook her head and muttered, "I hope that thing doesn't fall."
Sinclair replied, "That is one of the reasons no one has attacked the silly thing. The length of it is so great that it could wrap around the Earth at least once. I just hope none of the other races have heard about this."
"I ordered a news blackout when it appeared. I'm trying to head off an invasion from other races," Levy said.
Susan took a look at two of the other women and shook her head. "I'm just a private. I have no idea why I'm here with the president of Earth, two Psi Corps members, and officers of the military."
"You were asked for by name. I don't know why though," Talia Winters stated. "Lyta Alexander and myself were also named."
Susan shook her head and gave a start when a small door opened up. Everyone looked at each other and then proceeded inside. Everyone saw that the entire structure was working and yet there was no one inside.
"This is creepy," Gerabaldi muttered. "A structure like this and there is no one around."
Sheridan looked closely at some of the markings on the walls and doors. He blinked in shock when he recognized the language written on the surfaces. He took a closer look around and even though the structure was set up grander and differently than most other structures, Sheridan felt an uncomfortable familiarity with the way the interior was set up.
"What the blazes is going on here?" Sheridan muttered. "Everything points to this thing being of human make."
"Indeed it does, for it is of human or Chiram make," a male voice came from in front of the group. "President Levy, I see that you brought all those I requested to speak to."
The group saw an old man with a long white beard and wearing robes and carrying a staff walk out from a door. Behind him was a girl wearing a tight outfit that looked like a one piece yellow bathing suit with pink arms and leggings attached.
"I am the Colonel and this is Nataruma. I do apologize for upsetting your world with our arrival. I was going to reactivate the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb to send everything on its way, but Nataruma convinced me that helping this Earth out, might help in repaying the debts that were caused by the original detonation of the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb," the old man said.
"Before we proceed, I'm taking a precaution so that you don't shoot first and ask questions later," Nataruma said.
Before anyone could ask what she meant, all the guns that were being carried flew up and formed a ball. The ball was crushed and the resulting scrap metal fell to the ground in a rain of metal powder. Everyone looked at Nataruma in shock and a bit of fear, as her blue hair had flared out around her and her two tentacles were revealed.
"You are a telekinetic," Levy stated a bit hoarsely.
Nataruma smiled and replied, "Telekinesis, telepathy, force fields, mentally see far away, and a few other powers are available to me."
After that little revelation, the Colonel reached up and removed his face revealing the robot underneath the mask.
"This is what I truly look like and now I will now tell you of the great war that happened more than two hundred years ago and the events that led to having the Space Elevator appear in your world, including the time loop in this world that acted like a barrier preventing everything from going to the universes they were supposed to. Please follow me and I will project the images so that you can see the past."
The group of humans looked at each other and nervously followed the two beings.
"We're the only two here," Nataruma stated. "However, that doesn't mean were helpless. I'll tell you my story as well, since it ties into this mess."
The group entered a decent sized circular room with plush couches lined up against the wall. In the center of the room was a holographic display table. After everyone got comfortable, the Colonel projected an image from his eye and explained about the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb and the war that led to its initial activation that turned many separate Earths into mosaics of planets. He went on to explain about the subsequent war to reactivate the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb to put the four world right.
"We were for the most part successful, but some elements were forced into yet another world," the Colonel said and continued on.
"Colonel, I think I had better take over for the next part and then you can jump in and cover what I didn't," Nataruma said.
Nataruma told of her life in Zaphram and how the rulers of that country wanted to use her as a weapon and killed her mother because of it. She told the story of taking Lean hostage and their subsequent adventures to get to the country of Rivillia. After getting to the part where she telekinetically ripped open a steel gate, the Colonel took over and explained his actions in seeking Nataruma and the new Space/Time Oscillation Bomb. He went on to explain about how he tried to set things right when King Perriam activated Lebo and prevented the use of the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb and how anyone using Lebo would be driven mad by using it. President Levy made a mental note to have that robot dismantled completely. Nataruma smirked in President Levy's direction before taking up the tale of how Lean was going to fly the Orguss 02 against Lebo and how Nataruma acted like Lean's eyes and the subsequent battle where she deflected energy bolts capable of leveling a city. The final battle where Perriam tried to grab her and Lean and Manning's use of an old rifle to kill the maniac.
"Now we come to why the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb dropped everything off on this world," the Colonel said. "Join hands and Nataruma will show you."
Nervous about what was going to happen, the Earth Force members did as they were told and Nataruma finished the circle by taking Sheridan's hand in her right hands and Sinclair's in her left. She closed here eyes and showed them the wars to come with the Dilgar, the Minbari, the Shadows, even the loss of the IPX expedition that Anya Sinclair would be on, Clarke's murder of President Santiago, Psi Corp's placing a false personality inside Talia, Bester placing compulsions inside Gerabaldi, Sinclair becoming Valen, Babylon 4's fate, and more. She released her grip and opened her eyes.
"What you just saw happened many times before and would have happened many times more if the stuff that was being transported by the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb hadn't acted like a battering ram," the Colonel explained. "The combination of the two repaired the Space Elevator and restored the various mecha to their fully functional state and gave this Earth back its future."
"The Colonel explained that my ancestor was the one who triggered the original bomb. I tried to set things right for my homeworld. I can't call the Emaan my homeworld, even though I am one technically. I have never been there."
"That future seems sort of inevitable the way the Vorlons and Shadows manipulate everyone," Sinclair muttered. "Even my future was pre-set."
"Like I told Lean, negativity breeds nothing. One's own destiny lies in one's own will," the Colonel said. "Moving on. President Levy, you can send people you trust to hold the Space Elevator and use it. All that I ask is that Nataruma and I retain quarters in it, along with food and clothing for Nataruma. She also needs someone to look into seeing about correcting the genetic quirk that only allows her to have just one child. The technology of many different Earths now belong to this Earth."
"You're just giving us this stuff?" Sheridan asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Why wouldn't we? It helps repay the debt that was caused by the dimensional war and removes another opportunity of pain for the living," the Colonel said. "When you leave her, look to the left and you'll see the Space/Time Oscillation Bomb. I am the only one that can operate it and Nataruma is the only one who can control it. Other than space travel, the technology is far more advanced than yours."
"Just how many worlds were affected by that thing?" Gerabaldi asked.
"Five confirmed. The Chiram who created the Space Elevator, the Mu who created me, the Emaan from which Nataruma is descended from, Jabby's world where the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs missed and sentient reptiles arose. The final confirmed one is the world with Zaphram and Rivillian. There was an unknown number of unconfirmed worlds," the Colonel replied. "There was a incident where Joan of Arc led a tank battalion of the French Foreign Legion against the evil dictator Queen Marie Antoinette in that mosaic of worlds."
"There are so many things wrong with that scenario, that it is not funny," Sinclair muttered. "The bomb is suicidal to use."
Levy shook her head. "I agree your terms. You're here to help, not harm. I have to do something about Psi Corps and Clark. I'll talk to you later. Dr. Franklin will stay here and examine Nataruma and compare her DNA to ours. I have the feeling that she is as much a human as the rest of us, although with some slight genetic differences. Colonel, I expect you to train who I send here to operate this elevator."
The Colonel nodded. "I have placed the histories of the five confirmed worlds onto the computer here, along with the various technical data. The Mu had a working warp or teleportation technology and force fields. The Emaan had working gravity control, which is how they could have their ships glide. The Chiram is obvious what they could do."
"Building something like the space elevator is pretty impressive. They must have some advances in lightweight materials," Levy said in agreement. "I will talk to the two of you later. I came here expecting a terrorist threat and found out I was so wrong. I will keep Psi Corps off your case Nataruma. You've had a very hard life and too many people trying to control you."
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(Posted Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:14)
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